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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294157">Learning to Change</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigmaris/pseuds/Enigmaris'>Enigmaris</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Summoned King AU [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom, Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Redemption, Conversations, Forgiveness, Gen, Reconciliation, at least the potential of it, learning to heal, oh yeah babey, redemption arc, the beginnings of a redemption</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:22:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,304</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigmaris/pseuds/Enigmaris</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Vlad have another conversation.<br/>This one is entirely different.</p>
<p>Ectober Day 6! Prompt: Glowstick/ redruM</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Summoned King AU [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1018</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Learning to Change</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ya'll I was afraid I'd never get this one up! today has been so busy I hope you enjoy this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Danny didn’t actually end up going to Clockwork. He tried to save that for truly dire situations, since normally when he went to Clockwork he’d end up either being given no answer at all, or sent on a strange and difficult journey that would only raise more questions than it answered.</p>
<p>Danny was pretty sure Clockwork didn’t like visitors and punished anyone who went to his tower without an invitation, and punished about 80% of those who went with one.</p>
<p>Still, Frostbite was just a good a source for his questions when it came to ghostly artifacts, and he always gave straight if incredibly proper answers. At least in Danny’s not so humble opinion. So, Danny had nipped out of New York, found a nearby natural portal, and flew towards the Far Frozen hoping for a nice lecture about the ring of rage and crown of fire.</p>
<p>He didn’t expect to be waylaid by Vlad.</p>
<p>The moment he saw the other halfa, standing in the distance, Vlad transformed back into a human while lifting his hands up to make it clear he wasn’t going to attack.</p>
<p>“What do you want?”</p>
<p>“Just to talk, Daniel. I realize I may have… overreacted.”</p>
<p>“You <em>think</em>?”</p>
<p>Vlad’s jaw gritted together but he didn’t say anything in rebuttal, so Danny let himself float down to meet the man. Vlad had been waiting for him on one of the many floating rock islands that populated the zone. Around them were doors of various shapes, sizes, and colors that floated around in a toxic green sky. The rock itself was mostly barren, but there were smaller rocks scattered around for the two of them to sit down on.</p>
<p>“So.” Danny said. “Talk.”</p>
<p>“Did you tell the Avengers about my identity before I attacked you?”</p>
<p>“No, your human identity never even came up,” Danny said honestly. “Surprisingly, Vlad, you’re not someone I spend all my time thinking about.”</p>
<p>Danny almost missed how his words made Vlad flinch just a bit.</p>
<p>“Then how did…Stark was hacking into my systems. I know he was.”</p>
<p>“Tony found an old medical paper that was about your…hospital stay. It didn’t mention you by name but he put some clues together. All by himself, I promise. If I’d known I would have told him to leave you alone Vlad.”</p>
<p>“That damn thing. I thought I got rid of all of them.” Vlad snarled.</p>
<p>“Apparently not.”</p>
<p>The lights of the zone reflected off of the doors above them that lead into various haunts and ghostly lairs, they looked like bright green and purple glowsticks above their heads. Abruptly, Vlad gave a sigh and seemed to almost give up.</p>
<p>“I was so certain you would tell them of me.”</p>
<p>“Well you were wrong. Now if that’s all I need to go.”</p>
<p>“But why? Why not!” The man demanded, stopping Danny before he could get from his seat and take flight. “I’ve tried to kill you and your parents multiple times! Dozens even! Don’t you care?”</p>
<p>“Care about what? You’re like 1 of a million things in my life that have tried to kill me! My own parents have tried to tear me apart molecule by molecule!” Danny shouted. “I haven’t told them about that either!”</p>
<p>“They don’t know about your parents?” Vlad said, perking up into something like interest. Danny rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>“Vlad. I don’t owe you an explanation. Just, leave me alone. Move on. Let’s both just…live our lives.”</p>
<p>“What life? The one your father took from me? When he murdered me!”</p>
<p>“Oh this again.”</p>
<p>“Yes, this again Daniel! Every day I see the reflection of that murder in my own damn face!”</p>
<p>Danny opened his mouth, but Vlad didn’t seem to want to let him speak. The man stood up, looking like he was ready to either fire a blast of energy right at Danny’s face or tear his own hair out.</p>
<p>“How can you possibly expect me to move on! How can <em>you</em> move on you blind, ignorant child!”</p>
<p>“Most ghosts do Vlad.” Danny said, his voice eerily calm. He thought of all the ghosts he’d met since becoming king, the hundreds and thousands that had found peace within themselves. “Sure some hold onto their deaths but… most learn to let it go.”</p>
<p>“But we’re not most ghosts.”</p>
<p>“We’re still alive.”</p>
<p>“Oh hardly.” Vlad scoffed.</p>
<p>Danny suddenly felt very tired. He’d thought, well he’d hoped at least, that he and Vlad were done. That they wouldn’t have to do this anymore. That the two of them could drift apart and only ever interact once a year on Christmas, like estranged extended family. His senior year had almost been like that, with Vlad acting as Mayor but staying out of his business.</p>
<p>It had been blissful.</p>
<p>“You don’t get to move on from this Daniel.” Vlad told him.</p>
<p>“And why not?”</p>
<p>“Because we’re the same!” Vlad shouted. “And if you walk away then I’ll be…”</p>
<p>Danny thought back to the description Tony had given of Vlad’s condition after his accident. The pain and exhaustion, the loneliness and never-ending misery.  It was something he’d thought a lot about as a high schooler. Both when he’d tried to prevent the accident from ever even happening using time travel and when Vlad would throw out insults or attack his dad all over again.</p>
<p>Danny would never consider himself emotionally mature but…well… needs must.</p>
<p>“Look. I’m not…” Danny grimaced. “I’m moving on because you have literally given me no reason to want to talk to you.”</p>
<p>“Yes, Daniel I’m aware of your disdain for me.”</p>
<p>Danny made a face at how defeated the man sounded.</p>
<p>“No shut up. Look. I’m trying to tell you that if you change so will I.”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t look like that. I’m not going to be your son or whatever.” Danny told him. “But if you figure out how to stop being a creep, maybe, maybe we could be…I dunno…”</p>
<p>“Friends?” Vlad asked, almost wistful.</p>
<p>“Let’s start with…casual acquaintances.”</p>
<p>“That’s something I suppose.” Vlad sighed.</p>
<p>“If it helps, you’re not nearly as annoying to me as Loki is.”</p>
<p>“Truly?”</p>
<p>“Somehow, despite him never threatening my loved ones, he still manages to be the biggest fruitloop in the galaxy.”</p>
<p>Vlad snorted.</p>
<p>“I almost feel sorry for him then.”</p>
<p>“Really?”</p>
<p>“Yes at least I never had to live with you. I’m sure that would drive anyone mad.”</p>
<p>“Hey!”</p>
<p>“Even just sharing Amity with you Daniel was often too much.”</p>
<p>“You’re the one who kept trying to adopt me!”</p>
<p>“Well I am a fruitloop, aren’t I?” Vlad asked, as if he were telling a joke. Which was just, no.</p>
<p>“Stop it you’re being weird.” Danny told him.</p>
<p>“Perhaps I ought to reach out to Loki, form a club.”</p>
<p>“Don’t you <em>dare</em>.”</p>
<p>“The Not-Quite-A-Villain League perhaps.”</p>
<p>“I’m leaving.” Danny decided, just the mere idea of Loki and Vlad being friends was enough to give him nightmares.</p>
<p>“Where were you going anyway?”</p>
<p>“The Far Frozen.” Danny said. “Need to talk to Frostbite.”</p>
<p>“That wouldn’t be about your little…fit would it?”</p>
<p>“By fit you mean when I almost removed you from existence?”</p>
<p>“I thought that ‘fit’ might be a bit more of a delicate way to phrase it.” Vlad said. “Either way I do know what it was.”</p>
<p>“You do?”</p>
<p>“But of course.” He said. “It’s called the ring of <em>rage</em> Daniel. There are plenty of records of ghost kings gaining great power when enraged. I’d forgotten about it when I attacked you. Foolish of me, really.”</p>
<p>“Oh.”</p>
<p>“I could… send you the books I have? If you’d like.”</p>
<p>And there it was. A hand reached out. So different than the one Vlad had held out four years previously.</p>
<p>Just different enough.</p>
<p>“You know where I live.” Danny said.</p>
<p>“Yes. I suppose I do.”</p>
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